Planting Seeds of Hope: Empowering Migrant Workers in Thailand through Legal Assistance

Lamphun Province, 8 November 2023 – Hailing from a small village in eastern Myanmar, 33-year-old Boon has spent almost half of his life working in the agricultural sector in northern Thailand. His road to get there was riddled with difficulties going back to his childhood. His parents separated when he was young, leaving him under the care of his father while his mother migrated to work in Thailand.

Without having a chance to complete his higher education, Boon had to leave his village and become a monk at a temple up town. The experience was short-lived as conflict later broke out in the region, leaving him no choice but to move back home. As the conflict continued to escalate, it adversely affected the economy in Myanmar, leading to widespread economic stagnation and soaring unemployment rates.

Determined to pursue a better life free from fear and poverty, Boon joined his mother in Thailand, where she was a daily worker, taking up menial jobs to survive. Working in a field plucking longan and guavas not only allowed Boon to earn a stable income and support his mother but also brought him closer to migrant communities striving to improve their livelihoods. However, being in a foreign country with an unfamiliar language comes with its own set of challenges.

“Lack of access to information on labour rights and migration processes is what drives many migrant workers like us to go through broker channels – leading to debt and exploitation,” says Boon as he gears up for the training organized by the International Organization for Migration (IOM) in collaboration with the Human Rights and Development Foundation (HRDF).

Freshly plucked guavas from farms are passed around as he arrives at the training centre, along with 15 other migrant community leaders in Thailand’s Lamphun Province, ready for another day of legal assistance training on labour rights and entitlements as a migrant worker.

“There were days when we did not have enough money to buy clothes. My mother, despite her busy work shifts, would take out time to weave clothes for me,” he recounts fondly. “I was determined to support my mother any way I could.”